Mentor Mondays presents . . . Duane Michals
“It is no accident that you are reading this. I am making black marks on white paper. These marks are my thoughts, and although I do not know who you are reading this now, in some way the lines of our lives have intersected… For the length of these few sentences, we meet here.It is no accident that you are reading this. This moment has been waiting for you, I have been waiting for you. Remember me.”
– Duane Michals
Duane Michals is one of the biggest influences on my photography and art as a whole. My performance photo shoots especially, (i.e. my Meg series) have been heavily influenced by Duane Michals, who used photography and story line photos as a tool to investigate philosophy and scrutinize religion. From his own work I have been inspired to explore my own ideologies and beliefs. I’ve also approached how I present my images differently because of how he presented his works.
The Kodak Professional Gallery describes Michals as, “a master of both shooting and darkroom technique, Michals is entirely self-taught and, in fact, credits much of his success to his lack of formal training. ‘I was lucky because I never went to photography school and I didn’t learn the photography rules,’ he says. ‘And in not learning the rules, I was free. I always say, you’re either defined by the medium or your redefine the medium in terms of your needs.’”